It goes without saying that many companies are suffering from a serious halt to productivity due to this issue. Sure, it’s only been 30 minutes so far, but with all of the time lost from people asking one another if their email is down alone, money is being lost.

UPDATE: Google has provided us with some more information, including how many are affected:

4/17/12 10:18 AM
Our team is continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 4/17/12 11:18 AM with more information about this problem. Thank you for your patience.
This issue is affecting less than 2% of the Google Mail user base. The affected users are unable to access Google Mail.

UPDATE 2:

4/17/12 10:24 AM
Google Mail service has already been restored for some users, and we expect a resolution for all users in the near future. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change.

A Google spokesperson has issued the following statement to us:

We’re aware that some users are experiencing an error when accessing their Gmail. We’ve implemented a fix and users should be able to access their mail shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks for your patience.

UPDATE 3: Gmail is back. Feel free to thank Google for nearly an hour of free-time.

4/17/12 10:46 AM
The problem with Google Mail should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.